Harvest

Darkness gave way to brightness again. Nan Fusheng slowly rose from the metal cabinet when he heard a loud shout in his ear. "Xie Xie!"

The light around him was somewhat glaring, making him squint instinctively as he turned his head and looked around.

He saw Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi's body twitching slightly, and Gu Yue sitting there with a somewhat pale face. There were also two other opened metal cabinets beside them.

He saw Tang Wulin spring out of a metal cabinet and practically sprint over to another one.

"Xie Xie! Xie Xie!" Tang Wulin kept calling out anxiously.

"I-I'm fine. It still hurts quite a bit." Xie Xie's slightly hoarse voice rang out. He opened his eyes, then slowly sat up from the metal cabinet.

With Nan Fusheng's assistance, he had not suffered any serious injuries. However, he had expended a great deal of stamina in the Spirit Ascension Platform, and as those sensations flooded into his brain, he felt as though he had truly gone through a great battle, leaving him weak all over.

Only after seeing him open his eyes did Tang Wulin finally relax. The intense fatigue and the suffocating sensation from the earlier Crystallization surged back, and his legs gave out beneath him as he dropped to the floor.

Long Hengxu and Wu Changkong stood nearby. Wu Changkong still wore his cold, stern expression without the slightest hint of emotion, while Long Hengxu's eyes had long since filled with shock.

The Spirit Pagoda staff member said sincerely, "Such promising talent—truly promising talent! Are you certain these children are only nine years old?"

The staff member's gaze was burning, especially when he looked at Nan Fusheng, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue.

He had witnessed all four of their performances just now.

The most astonishing had undoubtedly been Nan Fusheng and Tang Wulin.

Nan Fusheng's bizarre Spirit Skill had unquestionably been immensely useful. He had been able to hold a Hundred-Year Bipedal Horned Dragon firmly in place until its death, without it making any meaningful attempt to resist.

He had even been able to restrain the Millennium-Level Crystal Bear for a considerable amount of time, creating opportunities for his teammates to kill it. In the end, surrounded by the wolf pack, he had remained calm as he made his judgments. Several times, when the wolves were practically upon him,

he had kept his expression unchanged while controlling distant Green Wolves, preventing them from unleashing Wind Blades. How much trust in his teammates did that require?

As for Tang Wulin, the Golden Dragon Claw formed from his right hand clearly possessed formidable attack power beyond his own strength.

One strike killing a Hundred-Year Bipedal Horned Dragon was one thing, but the Millennium-Level Crystal Bear's defenses were nothing a Hundred-Year Bipedal Horned Dragon could compare to.

Even knowing its weakness, that weak point's defenses were still formidable. Even an Assault System Soul Elder would not dare claim they could kill it in a single blow, yet Tang Wulin had done it.

Gu Yue's performance had likewise been praiseworthy. Her coordination with the other three had been seamless, and every instance of elemental control had been perfectly timed, especially her simultaneous use of multiple elemental abilities.

At the final moment, in order to keep Tang Wulin from being hurt, she had used her own body to withstand a crushing blow of nearly a thousand jin.

The Spirit Pagoda staff member knew very well that, in a situation like that, the human brain would not have had time to consider whether it was illusion or reality. Gu Yue appearing beneath Tang Wulin at the first instant meant that even in reality, she would have done the same without hesitation.

They were only nine-year-old children! With a bond between them that had reached such a level, how could their teamwork not be seamless?

No wonder, no wonder Eastsea Academy had been willing to spend so much money to send them here. They had not spent long in the Spirit Ascension Platform, but this experience would undoubtedly have an enormous effect on them.

The last child had been the same. In order to protect his companions, he had refused to lose heart even when he knew he was outmatched. Several times, when facing the Green Wolves' encirclement,

he had calmly chosen a point to break through, completely exposing his back. This was not recklessness; it was trust that his teammates would surely create an opportunity for him to break free from the encirclement.

At the same time, he had managed to minimize his injuries when attacked while still harming his enemies as much as possible. He had already done exceptionally well.

At least among Spirit Masters entering the Spirit Ascension Platform for the first time, this Spirit Pagoda staff member had hardly ever seen anyone so outstanding. Not to mention that these children's cultivation levels were only one or two rings.

Wu Changkong slowly walked over to the six of them and said flatly, "Starting today, you six are a combat squad. Captain: Tang Wulin. Vice Captain: Nan Fusheng. Let's go."

With that, he took the lead toward the elevator.

The six looked at one another, all wearing somewhat stunned expressions. A squad?

Zhang Yangzi's face looked unpleasant, but he felt even more ashamed. If he had still been competitive before coming here, after personally witnessing everything that had happened in the Spirit Ascension Platform, all desire to compete had vanished from his heart.

Leaving aside individual strength, his own response in the Spirit Ascension Platform had been far inferior to theirs.

Whether it was Nan Fusheng, who could calmly control the overall situation and restrain a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, or Tang Wulin, who had killed the Millennium-Level Crystal Bear in a single blow with his overwhelming attack power,

or Gu Yue, who had willingly served as a cushion, or Xie Xie, who had fought to the death rather than retreat for his companions—every one of them had performed admirably. Compared with them, his and Wang Jinxi's performance had been far too poor.

If Wang Jinxi still had an excuse, since he had encountered an incomparably powerful Soul Beast, then what about himself? He had practically been courting death!

On the way back, all six remained immersed in today's journey through the Spirit Ascension Platform. Zhang Yangzi regretted his actions, while Nan Fusheng kept replaying the entire battle in his mind, considering the conditions within the Spirit Ascension Platform.

But without question, their first battle in the Spirit Ascension Platform today had given all of them quite a shock.

Nan Fusheng felt it especially deeply. So this was what fighting Soul Beasts was like! This was how it felt to battle Soul Beasts.

Although he was already Sequence 5, he had never experienced actual combat before. Aolai City was still very peaceful.

Conducting real combat in a place like this was indeed far more effective than ordinary practice. After all, he had rarely engaged in this kind of direct battle before, so he could treat this as accumulating experience in advance.

The journey back to the Academy was peaceful, but because Tang Wulin's Soul Spirit was evolving, he remained in a dazed state. Wu Changkong therefore personally escorted Tang Wulin back to his dormitory.

He did not give any further instructions, merely dismissing everyone and telling them to return to their dormitories to cultivate.

The moment Nan Fusheng returned to his dormitory, he began cultivating. Frankly speaking, Tang Wulin had appeared to gain the most today. Not only had he gained experience fighting Soul Beasts, but his Soul Spirit had also evolved.

Nan Fusheng had likewise gained experience fighting Soul Beasts, but aside from that, he had gained nothing. At most, he had acquired the title of Vice Captain. Even Xie Xie had at least absorbed the Spirit Power of a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

However, none of that mattered to Nan Fusheng. There would be plenty of chances to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform in the future. What Nan Fusheng had gained most from today was the Time Worm's Parasitism of Soul Beasts.

Unlike Parasitism of humans, Nan Fusheng discovered that perhaps because those Soul Beasts existed in a virtual state? Or perhaps because they were Soul Spirits?

In any case, Nan Fusheng discovered that if he wanted to perform Deep Parasitism on those Soul Beasts, he only needed to consume a single Time Worm.